The Pakistani teenager who was shot in the head by the Taliban last year has addressed the United Nations on her 16th birthday, vowing not to be silenced by terrorists.

Nine months after a gunman shot her on a bus in Pakistan's Swat Valley for demanding education for girls, Malala Yousafzai received multiple standing ovations at the United Nations Youth Assembly in New York.

She addressed nearly 1,000 students from around the world and her speech was immediately hailed for its power.

Ms Yousafzai showed the attack on her had done nothing to dim her passion for girls' education.

"Let us pick up our books and pens, they are our most powerful weapons," she said.

"One child, one teacher ... can change the world."

Wearing a pink headscarf and a shawl belonging to the assassinated Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto, Ms Yousafzai insisted she did not want "personal revenge" against the man who shot her.

"I want education for the sons and daughters of the Taliban and all the terrorists and extremists," she said.

"Education is the only solution.

"They shot my friends too. They thought that the bullets would silence us. But they failed and out of that silence came thousands of voices.

They shot my friends too. They thought that the bullets would silence us. But they failed and out of that silence came thousands of voices.

Malala Yousafzai

"The terrorists thought they would change my aims and stop my ambitions, but nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died.

"I am not against anyone, neither am I here to speak in terms of personal revenge against the Taliban or any other terrorist group.

"I do not even hate the talib who shot me. Even if there is a gun in my hand and he stands in front of me, I would not shoot him."

Ms Yousafzai has become a global superstar and is now considered a leading contender for the Nobel Peace Prize.

She has been named as one of Time magazine's most influential people in 2013 and has reportedly secured a $US3 million contract for a book on her life story, but the Taliban have made it clear she remains a target.

Call for universal education

Ms Yousafzai presented UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon with a petition signed by 4 million people in support of 57 million children around the world who are not able to go to school.

It demanded that world leaders fund new teachers, schools and books and end child labor, marriage and trafficking.

Mr Ban said the UN was committed to a target of getting all children in school by the end of 2015.

"No child should have to die for going to school," he said.

"Nowhere should teachers fear to teach or children fear to learn. Together, we can change this picture."

After the shooting, the critically ill Ms Yousafazi was treated in Pakistan before the United Arab Emirates provided an air ambulance to fly her to Britain, where doctors mended parts of her skull with a titanium plate.

Unable to safely return to Pakistan, she enrolled in a school in Birmingham, England in March.

Her mother wiped away tears as she watched her daughter thank all those who helped save her life.

Diary earned student a worldwide following

Ms Yousafzai started a diary at the age of 11, written under the pseudonym of Gul Makai, the name of a Pashtun heroine, that was published on BBC Urdu.

The young girl built up a worldwide following of supporters as she told of the anxiety she and friends felt as they saw students dropping out for fear of being targeted by militants.

Girls also refused to wear uniforms to school in case militants saw them.Ms Yousafzai and her family briefly left Swat during a government offensive on the Taliban controlled territory.

On their return, they were the subject of threats by militants before the attack on October 9 last year.

The Taliban said Ms Yousafzai was shot because of her efforts to promote "secular education", calling her efforts pro-Western.

Two of her classmates were also wounded.

Under Taliban rule in neighbouring Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, women were forced to cover up and were banned from voting, most work and leaving their homes unless accompanied by a husband or male relative.

"The extremists were and they are afraid of books and pens, the power of education frightens them," Ms Yousafzai said.

"They are afraid of women. When we were in Swat ... we realised the importance of pens and books when we saw the guns."